E-Waste and Human Health

Human Health:

Improper E-waste disposal hurts humans, plants, and animals which negatively affects the growth of our environment. As e-waste fumes contaminate the air it makes air pollution that harms all vegetables, crops, trees, plants and flowers. When E-waste is produced it is at least 40 metric tons each year and usually ends up in China, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, and the Philippines. These specific countries and any others that suffer from illegal e-waste dumping, handle most of the e-waste by shredding, burning or dismantling the e-waste in backyards and anywhere else they can find it. These actions are what cause the health defects/problems in most of these countries. By burning the e-waste these people are exposed to toxic chemicals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, beryllium, chromium, and brominated flame retardants. Therefore the diseases that occur when burning the e-waste are the direct result of combustion which creates fine particulate matter and when you inhale it, it causes what is known as pulmonary and cardiovascular disease. In conclusion, the way we dispose of e-waste not only affects the countries we dump it in but also the humans we interact with and the plants we have to consume to survive.

Burning E-waste:

The process of destroying waste by burning is Incineration. Because of the variety of e-waste being dumped, incineration has a major risk of letting out many types of contaminant substances that are detrimental to human health.

Solution:

Water on it.

Sources:

"Causes International." E-Waste Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 June 2015.
"Hazardous Technologies." Hazardous Technologies. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 June 2015.
"Where Does E-waste End Up?" Greenpeace International. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 June 2015
"The Human and Environmental Effects of E-Waste." The Human and Environmental Effects of E-Waste. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 June 2015.